German relative clauses: der, den, dem and denen

Adding information about a noun

A relative clause lets you specify which person or thing you mean: Die Frau, die neben mir wohnt, arbeitet im Museum. (“The woman who lives next door to me works at the museum”). The relative pronoun die refers to Frau.

The relative clause is set off with commas. When it sits inside the main clause, it needs an opening and a closing comma. In German this is compulsory, unlike in English. The conjugated verb of these relative clauses goes to the end.

Gender and number from outside; case from inside

Make two checks:

1. Antecedent: the noun you’re referring to determines gender and number.
2. Role inside the relative clause: this determines the case. Is it the subject, an object or the complement of a preposition?

In Der Nachbar, den ich besuche, ist Musiker. (“The neighbour I’m visiting is a musician”), Nachbar is masculine singular. Inside den ich besuche, ich is the subject and den is the object of besuchen: that’s why we use Akkusativ, even though Der Nachbar is the subject of the main clause. And while English can leave out the relative pronoun (“the neighbour I’m visiting”), German never can.

Table of relative pronouns

Most forms match the definite article. Pay attention to denen for the Dativ plural and to dessen/deren for the Genitiv. Example: Die Musiker, denen wir zuhören, spielen leise. (“The musicians we’re listening to are playing quietly”). Zuhören takes Dativ.

For possession: Die Autorin, deren Buch ich lese, lebt in Wien. (“The author whose book I’m reading lives in Vienna”). Deren refers to Autorin; it isn’t chosen by the neuter gender of Buch.

Relative clauses with a preposition

The preposition comes before the relative pronoun and determines its case: Das Team, mit dem ich arbeite, ist klein. (“The team I work with is small”). Team is neuter singular and mit takes Dativ: mit dem. The preposition can’t go to the end as it can in English.

In the Perfekt, the conjugated auxiliary closes the relative clause: Das Paket, das ich bestellt habe, ist angekommen. (“The parcel I ordered has arrived”). If the verb is separable, it stays together in this position: Der Kurs, der morgen anfängt, ist ausgebucht. (“The course that starts tomorrow is fully booked”).

A method for checking your sentences

First write two separate sentences. Then replace the repeated noun with the relative pronoun and put the conjugated verb at the end. Check the commas and read the whole result. If you’re unsure of the case, review Akkusativ and Dativ; if there’s a fixed preposition, see verbs with prepositions.

Exercises with answers

Answer before opening the solutions. Each answer explains the reason for the form:

1. Die Frau, ___ hier arbeitet, heißt Nora.
2. Der Film, ___ wir sehen, ist neu.
3. Das Kind, ___ ich helfe, ist müde.
4. Die Gäste, mit ___ wir sprechen, kommen aus Peru.
5. Der Autor, ___ Roman ich lese, wohnt in Berlin.
6. Join “I can see the backpack. You bought the backpack yesterday.” Use Rucksack and the Perfekt.

Show answers and explanations

1. die: feminine singular and subject of arbeitet; Nominativ.
2. den: masculine singular and object of sehen; Akkusativ.
3. dem: neuter singular; helfen takes Dativ.
4. denen: plural and Dativ required by mit.
5. dessen: possession referring to the masculine antecedent Autor.
6. Ich sehe den Rucksack, den du gestern gekauft hast.: den is masculine Akkusativ; hast closes the relative clause.